School district refinances bonds

On Nov. 8, the Carbon County Board of Education voted to refinance some school district bonds at lower interest rates and save money.

The action will save the district $219,248.03, according to the district's business manager, Bill Jewkes.

"The change will give us a lower interest rate and that savings can go directly to reducing the mil levy that taxpayers come up with each year," said Jewkes.

Utah has an AAA bonding rating. The school district can tack onto the state's rating to receive interest rates lower, which is what Jewkes said Carbon District did to obtain the new financing.

The process involves refunding rather than refinancing the bonds. The 2006 issue will replace the bonds which were originally issued in 2001.

The amount of the bonds totals $6,905,000 and is based on a true interest cost of 3.922 percent. The bonds will mature in 2017, but the lifespan can go until 2021.

In a second money matter, the board decided to allow two people rather than a group to attend a reading conference in Canada to control costs.

Six people from the district had been slated to go to the International Reading Convention in Toronto next May.

One of the people was Kristen Taylor, who will be doing a presentation at the conference in connection with a grant the school district received a few years ago.

The trip would have cost the school district about $2,500 per person. But when the cost of nearly $16,000 for the trip was presented to the board, some members thought the expenditure was too high.

"I have a real problem with this many people going out of the country because of the distance and the cost," said board member Grady McEvoy. "There are conferences within the United States they can attend and the cost will be lower."

Board member Debbie Blackburn said she thought sending that many people to a conference was "redundant."

Blackburn made a motion to allow Taylor attend the conference with one other party.

The motion died for the lack of a second.

But after more discussion about the conference and the costs associated with attendance, the board approved a similar motion, with three members voting in favor of the trip and two voting no.